This Associated Press report is full of living Hall of Famers crowing about yesterday’s Hall of Fame shutout. I won’t quote Goose Gossage because just about everyone in the planet has run his over-the-top rebop by now. Do remember, however, that prior to his induction Gossage believed that the Hall of Fame should open its doors to everyone and since his induction he basically thinks only he, Babe Ruth and maybe Willie Mays belong.

Other Hall of Famers, however, were just as pleased as Gossage. Take Al Kaline, for instance:

“I’m kind of glad that nobody got in this year,” Kaline said. “I feel honored to be in the Hall of Fame. And I would’ve felt a little uneasy sitting up there on the stage, listening to some of these new guys talk about how great they were.”

His later comments in the article make it clear that his discomfort is due to PEDs, but that doesn’t explain why watching Craig Biggio — a guy, like Kaline, who hung on and got 3,000 hits — would upset him so.

Seems right. Guys who are suspected of PEDs are bad. Almost as bad as players who make 13 year-old kids buy pot for them and then defend their actions by saying “I don’t recall anything from over 20 years ago. That’s what I’m sticking to.” Really: the baseball writers had no problem with the character of a guy who turned teenage team employees into drug mules and then offered a statement that makes Barry Bonds’ flaxseed oil story seem like the Sermon on the Mount, but Mike Piazza and Jeff Bagwell get blackballed because they heard a guy say that he knew a guy who says that maybe they used steroids once.

It’s all too much. So thank God for Juan Marichal, who won’t play along with this nonsense:

“I think that they have been unfair to guys who were never found guilty of anything. Their stats define them as immortals. That’s the reality and that cannot be denied … What we’re witnessing here is innocent people paying for the sinners.”

Look Juan, you have to understand: there is a price to be paid to keep Goose Gossage happy, and we should all just accept that, OK?

The Cubs wrapped up a four-game series against the Reds at Wrigley Field on Thursday afternoon, suffering a 13-10 loss to split the set. They’ll match up again against the Reds next week for a three-game series in Cincinnati. That’s good news for Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant, because that means he’ll get to see Reds first baseman Joey Votto some more.

As CSN Chicago’s Patrick Mooney reports, Bryant has grown quite fond of Votto. Bryant has already won a World Series ring, a Rookie of the Year Award, and an MVP Award, but he still looks up to Votto. According to Bryant, Votto is “the best player ever.” He added, ““He’s my favorite player. I love watching him. I love talking to him, just picking his brain. He gets a lot of (heat) about his walks and working at-bats and some people want him to swing at more pitches. But, gosh, I mean, he does an unbelievable job. You know that he’s going to give you a great at-bat every time he goes up there. It’s definitely a guy that I look up to and I can learn from.”

Bryant said that Votto is “a future Hall of Famer, that’s for sure.”

Bryant also explained how his approach changed by watching Votto. He said that in his rookie season, he was “swinging at everything.” Votto, however, is “aggressive, but he’s not going to swing at a pitch until he wants it.”

Indeed, in Bryant’s rookie season, he struck out in nearly 31 percent of his 650 plate appearances. This season, he has struck out in only 19 percent of his PA. His walk rate has also increased by more than 2.5 percent since his rookie campaign. Compared to last year, Bryant is down in HR and RBI, but his average is the same, his on-base percentage is markedly better, and his slugging percentage is only down by a minute amount.

Diamondbacks second baseman Daniel Descalso hit his team’s third inside-the-park home run of the season during Thursday’s 4-0 win over the Astros. In the top of the fourth inning, with the score 1-0 and the bases empty, Descalso ripped a 1-0, 83 MPH change-up to right-center field. The ball caromed off the wall, heading towards left field, which sent center Jake Marisnick on the chase. Marisnick tried to pick up the ball with his glove, but dropped it, which sealed Descalso’s destiny for an inside-the-parker.

It had only been five days since the Diamondbacks’ last inside-the-park home run. David Peralta hit one against the Cubs on August 12. Ketel Marte legged out his club’s first ITPHR on July 26 against the Braves.

As ESPN Stats & Info notes, the Diamondbacks have three as a team, which is amazing because the other 29 teams have hit seven combined.